Platform: Windows

The long wait is finally over and those who seek their thrills through building and development can finally get their kicks again! The latest in Hipsoft's popular Build-a-lottime management series has finally arrived  Build-a-Lot: On Vacation  and it's a wild ride through the adventurous world of real estate development. So what if the bottom has dropped out of the housing market, you can still get your thrills vicariously!

If you've never played any of the Build-a-lot games (and, seriously, this is the sixth in the series, so why haven't you?) the premise is a very basic one: begin with a town that has a limited amount of resources (money, labor, materials) and a need (more housing development, more tourism, more nature). It's your job to right the real estate-related wrong by creating new housing developments (and collecting rent on those properties!) and setting up shops, all while managing workers and resources to produce maximum profit. Finish a level in expert time and you receive a lot of praise, finish before the timer runs out and at least pass on to the next level. Don't finish before the timer and you are stuck repeating the level until you get it right.

For those who are familiar with the series, Hipsoft has removed the disasters and buildings from Build-a-Lot 3 and the power grid demands from Build-a-Lot 4, leaving a stripped down classic version of the game familiar to those who loved Build-a-Lot and Build-a-Lot 2. That's not to say that there are no changes, as Build-a-Lot: On Vacation has added three things that twist the old gameplay in new and interesting ways: Wooded lots, Industrial Zones, and a Real Estate Office.

Wooded lots are simply a variation on the old "empty lot", an undeveloped piece of land waiting to be built on. However, the wooded lots are more expensive than the basic empty lots, and the difference is the natural resource growing therein, the wood itself. Lots can harvested for either wood or money, and the more expensive the lot, the more materials or cash you can recoup from your investment. In some levels the wooded lots can be more expensive than buying a lot with a house on it, making it a key piece of strategy. Industrial zones are another nice touch in that building any type of industrial building has absolutely no impact on the overall approval rating of a town, nor does it affect nearby buildings. However, not every level has industrial zones.

The most interesting twist is that provided by the Real Estate office, which actually has several functions. The first is the ability to "stage" a house, which turns it into a model home upping the rent without the resulting materials cost that upgrading a house entails. The second is the appraisal ability, which once applied to a home insures that it will sell for its exact retail price, no matter how many other houses are on the market at the same time. The third is the ability to force a sale of any lot or home for twice its asking price, saving the player from having to wait for a choice piece of property to come onto the market.

Analysis: Even if it was a retread with a fancy new skin (I'm looking at you, Build-a-Lot: The Elizabethan Era), Build-a-Lot: On Vacation would still be worth a look for anyone who loves frantic time management and tycoon sim gameplay. Fortunately for those who do, the different lots and the real estate office twist the classic gameplay in new and interesting directions, fantastic news for those still hooked on the series.

As the name implies, Build-a-Lot: On Vacation deals entirely with vacation resorts and the houses, scenery, and upgrades reflect the theme. Hipsoft has even added larger build projects in some levels (familiar to anyone who has played Be Rich or Virtual City) to add even more complexity. There are now even more levels of play, including an easy tutorial section, the Career play section, the Expert Section, the Casual play section, and a new Quick Play section that drops you into a scenario with no kind words from an elected official, simply a goal list and off you go.

If there are any down sides to Build-a-Lot: On Vacation, it's that Hipsoft still hasn't done much by way of upgrading the backgrounds, houses, or animations. Granted the gameplay moves from wooded highlands to deserts to ski resorts to beach resorts, but it's all scenery that's been seen before. Even the houses are very familiar, and it would be nice to see some sort of visual cue aside from the stars to show an upgraded building. As this is the sixth game in the series the visuals (and the oh-so-familiar music) are beginning to get a little stale. The scenery is still lovely, but been there, done that, got the t-shirt, burned it, and scattered the ashes.

Despite the static visuals, Build-a-Lot: On vacation is still casual gameplay that sucks you in and doesn't let you go until you've expert leveled the last scenario. Fans of the series will appreciate the new twists in strategy and newbs will just love the addictive gameplay. Forget the depressed real estate market; it's time to get building!

Each level requires a different type of strategy, don't become too enamored of only one way to solve a level.

Always do your upgrades between rent cycles. Don't start an upgrade right before rent comes in, wait until it comes in then upgrade.

If you have a workshop, always inspect your houses when you are done upgrading to prevent repairs, which cost time and money.

Real Estate offices are more important than you realize. They can increase rent of properties without using materials. They can also insure that homes you sell go for better prices. On some levels you cannot acquire a particular property any other way than offering double, which requires the real estate office.

Many (but not all) of these levels have a "hidden" agenda, a requirement that will pop up at the last minute. This walkthrough will include both the regular and the "hidden" goals.

You won't be building much here, so you don't need a sawmill. What you need is a workshop, a lot of men, and some patience.

When you demolish the cabins to reforest, simply use the middle row which is six empty lots. This will make the level easy.

This is a tedious way to win the level, but it works.

The trick is to reforest a lot for $50,000, then harvest to get $100,000. This nets you a profit of $50,000 for each lot.

Sell one cabin and demolish another (not in the middle row).

Once the cabin sells, buy enough materials and build a workshop.

Sell a second cabin (not middle row) while the workshop is building.

Once the second cabin sells put a third one up for sale (again, not middle row) and buy efficiency and 3 more workers.

Sell a fourth cabin (not middle row) and inspect 5 cabins in the bottom row so they don't need repairs.

Demolish one cabin in the middle row and reforest the lot.

Once the lot is reforested harvest for $100,000.

Again reforest and harvest. Buy six more men and demolish a second cabin.

Reforest and reharvest the lot once more.

Now reforest both lots, then harvest both lots.

Reforest and harvest both lots again, demolish the third cabin, and buy more men.

Eventually you will be reforesting and harvesting an assembly line in that middle row with six lots. To accomplish this efficiently you need 30 men.

Remember to continually reforest each lot and move on to the next, don't wait for it to complete. When you get to the end of the row, go back to the beginning and start harvesting. Your 30 men will be in constant motion.

Once you get near the $1,000,000 mark in money, start buying back the cabins you sold.

After you cross the $1,000,000 mark, reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials instead of money.

Reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials again. You should end up with around 28,000 in materials, which is plenty.

Go back to reforesting and harvesting for money. This part is tedious and requires constant clicking, but the money racks up fast.

While you are constantly reforesting and harvesting, paint and inspect all of your cabins.

Once you hit $5,000,000, build cabins on the six lots, then paint the cabins.

You're going to need a garden center, a sawmill, a workshop, and a real estate building, but hold off on the garden center for a while, it's not imperative at first.

Although the requirements for each house is different (hotels on premium lots, Victorians need to be landscaped, ranches need 3 stars) it's best to give every house the full works: paint, landscape, stage, 3 stars. This ups the rental income and contributes to the final appeal.

You start with two Victorians on the premium lots. Sell one.

Upgrade the other Victorian once and wait for houses to come onto the market.

Buy cheap houses (cabins and lodges), demolish.

Buy 1,000 materials and build a sawmill.

Once the sawmill is built buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop.

Buy efficiency and three more men.

Continue to buy cheap houses and demolish.

Build a Victorian on an empty lot and sell it.

With the money from the Victorian, load up on materials, get three more men, and demolish the Victorian on the premium lot.

Build your hotel on the premium lot. Also build a real estate office and a gardening center.

Build more Victorians on any lot you've cleared. You should end up with a sawmill, workshop, real estate office, gardening center, your premium hotel, and three Victorians.

Landscape the Victorians and upgrade both hotel and Victorians. Remember to stage them as well.

Go ahead and landscape the hotel and paint all of your buildings. By this time the chalets should be coming up for sale.

Buy the two chalets, demolish, and build 2 ranches.

Stage, landscape, paint, and start upgrading the ranches.

When the Victorian you sold comes back on the market buy it, then landscape, paint, and upgrade to 3 stars.

Let the money accumulate for a while, then start offering double for the wooded lots. Buy 2 of them at first and build ranches.

Upgrade the ranches to 3 stars, then buy a third lot, harvest, and build another ranch.

At this point you will have all of the buildings, the hotel on the premium lot, 4 Victorians (landscaped), and 6 ranches (3 stars).

Let the money accumulate until you can offer double for the Victorian on the premium lot. Buy it, demolish, and build a hotel.

You will need a lot of manpower on this level (24 or more workers), a sawmill, a workshop, and a real estate office.

The picnic parks are also key, as each one is worth +20 appeal. In the end you will own nothing but three picnic parks and 12 tree lots.

You begin with four houses, a Victorian, two cabins, and a lodge.

Sell the Victorian.

Demolish the 2 cabins.

Build a sawmill.

After the sawmill is built, buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop. Demolish the lodge at the same time.

Buy 3 more men and efficiency.

Build and sell a ranch.

Buy any cheap houses (cabins, lodges) that come on the market.

Start building hotels. Start with two, and upgrade as you can.

Once you have two 3-star hotels bringing in the money, continue to buy cheap houses. Keep one cabin and demolish the rest.

Build a real estate office.

Continue to buy men and materials, and build 4 more hotels and upgrade to 3 stars.

Also stage the hotels to bring in more money.

Sell, buy back, and sell again the one cabin until you have hit the 5 house sale requirements. Use the force buy (offer double) to keep buying it back and then sell. The last time you buy it back (when you hit the requirements), demolish.

Also continue to buy houses as you can afford them. Once you have 6 3 star hotels bringing in the money, when you buy the other houses just inspect the more expensive ones. Demolish 3 cheap houses and build picnic parks on the lots.

If necessary, use the force buy (offer double) to buy the last house available.

Once you have all of the lots, keep buying materials until you hit 25,000.

Demolish the real estate office and sawmill and the cheaper houses (not hotels) and reforest the lots.

Demolish the hotels and reforest the land as soon as it is clear.

When you are left with 3 picnic parks and 11 wooded lots, demolish the workshop and reforest the lot.

The trick here is the appraisals. Every time you upgrade a building in some way, the appraisal changes, so once you build a house, appraise it before you start upgrading, then appraise it again when you are done. You will quickly get the 12 appraisals.

You can also use the reforest, harvest, reforest trick on two lots until you hit the 12 reforest requirements.

In the course of the game you will demolish 12 houses, so no worries there.

You start with 2 cabins, a lodge, and a chalet.

Sell the chalet and demolish the 2 cabins.

Build a sawmill and demolish the lodge.

Build another chalet and sell it.

Buy any lodges or cabins that come up for sale.

Buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop.

Buy efficiency, demolish any lodges or cabins, and build and sell a ranch.

Buy and demolish the last of the lodges and cabins. Buy 3 men. Build and sell a Victorian.

For expert level 3. build a real estate agent then the lots come up for sale. buy an empty lot, demolish you realestate and use the materials to build a house, sell it and build a ranch. then sell that and you should have enough money to get going. build and sell a hotel asap so you have enough money to buy the first premiere hotel asap, upgrade it then the money should come in fast enough. you will need a workshop asap too with efficency training to get everything completed in time. though you will have to demolish it for the last house.

You won't be building much here, so you don't need a sawmill. What you need is a workshop, a lot of men, and some patience.

When you demolish the cabins to reforest, simply use the middle row which is six empty lots. This will make the level easy.

This is a tedious way to win the level, but it works.

The trick is to reforest a lot for $50,000, then harvest to get $100,000. This nets you a profit of $50,000 for each lot.

Sell one cabin and demolish another (not in the middle row).

Once the cabin sells, buy enough materials and build a workshop.

Sell a second cabin (not middle row) while the workshop is building.

Once the second cabin sells put a third one up for sale (again, not middle row) and buy efficiency and 3 more workers.

Sell a fourth cabin (not middle row) and inspect 5 cabins in the bottom row so they don't need repairs.

Demolish one cabin in the middle row and reforest the lot.

Once the lot is reforested harvest for $100,000.

Again reforest and harvest. Buy six more men and demolish a second cabin.

Reforest and reharvest the lot once more.

Now reforest both lots, then harvest both lots.

Reforest and harvest both lots again, demolish the third cabin, and buy more men.

Eventually you will be reforesting and harvesting an assembly line in that middle row with six lots. To accomplish this efficiently you need 30 men.

Remember to continually reforest each lot and move on to the next, don't wait for it to complete. When you get to the end of the row, go back to the beginning and start harvesting. Your 30 men will be in constant motion.

Once you get near the $1,000,000 mark in money, start buying back the cabins you sold.

After you cross the $1,000,000 mark, reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials instead of money.

Reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials again. You should end up with around 28,000 in martials, which is plenty.

Go back to reforesting and harvesting for money. This part is tedious and requires constant clicking, but the money racks up fast.

While you are constantly reforesting and harvesting, paint and inspect all of your cabins.

Once you hit $5,000,000, build cabins on the six lots, then paint the cabins.

Each level requires a different type of strategy, don't become too enamored of only one way to solve a level.

Always do your upgrades between rent cycles. Don't start an upgrade right before rent comes in, wait until it comes in then upgrade.

If you have a workshop, always inspect your houses when you are done upgrading to prevent repairs, which cost time and money.

Real Estate offices are more important than you realize. They can increase rent of properties without using materials. They can also insure that homes you sell go for better prices. On some levels you cannot acquire a particular property any other way than offering double, which requires the real estate office.

Many (but not all) of these levels have a "hidden" agenda, a requirement that will pop up at the last minute. This walkthrough will include both the regular and the "hidden" goals.

You won't be building much here, so you don't need a sawmill. What you need is a workshop, a lot of men, and some patience.

When you demolish the cabins to reforest, simply use the middle row which is six empty lots. This will make the level easy.

This is a tedious way to win the level, but it works.

The trick is to reforest a lot for $50,000, then harvest to get $100,000. This nets you a profit of $50,000 for each lot.

Sell one cabin and demolish another (not in the middle row).

Once the cabin sells, buy enough materials and build a workshop.

Sell a second cabin (not middle row) while the workshop is building.

Once the second cabin sells put a third one up for sale (again, not middle row) and buy efficiency and 3 more workers.

Sell a fourth cabin (not middle row) and inspect 5 cabins in the bottom row so they don't need repairs.

Demolish one cabin in the middle row and reforest the lot.

Once the lot is reforested harvest for $100,000.

Again reforest and harvest. Buy six more men and demolish a second cabin.

Reforest and reharvest the lot once more.

Now reforest both lots, then harvest both lots.

Reforest and harvest both lots again, demolish the third cabin, and buy more men.

Eventually you will be reforesting and harvesting an assembly line in that middle row with six lots. To accomplish this efficiently you need 30 men.

Remember to continually reforest each lot and move on to the next, don't wait for it to complete. When you get to the end of the row, go back to the beginning and start harvesting. Your 30 men will be in constant motion.

Once you get near the $1,000,000 mark in money, start buying back the cabins you sold.

After you cross the $1,000,000 mark, reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials instead of money.

Reforest all six lots, then harvest for materials again. You should end up with around 28,000 in materials, which is plenty.

Go back to reforesting and harvesting for money. This part is tedious and requires constant clicking, but the money racks up fast.

While you are constantly reforesting and harvesting, paint and inspect all of your cabins.

Once you hit $5,000,000, build cabins on the six lots, then paint the cabins.

You're going to need a garden center, a sawmill, a workshop, and a real estate building, but hold off on the garden center for a while, it's not imperative at first.

Although the requirements for each house is different (hotels on premium lots, Victorians need to be landscaped, ranches need 3 stars) it's best to give every house the full works: paint, landscape, stage, 3 stars. This ups the rental income and contributes to the final appeal.

You start with two Victorians on the premium lots. Sell one.

Upgrade the other Victorian once and wait for houses to come onto the market.

Buy cheap houses (cabins and lodges), demolish.

Buy 1,000 materials and build a sawmill.

Once the sawmill is built buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop.

Buy efficiency and three more men.

Continue to buy cheap houses and demolish.

Build a Victorian on an empty lot and sell it.

With the money from the Victorian, load up on materials, get three more men, and demolish the Victorian on the premium lot.

Build your hotel on the premium lot. Also build a real estate office and a gardening center.

Build more Victorians on any lot you've cleared. You should end up with a sawmill, workshop, real estate office, gardening center, your premium hotel, and three Victorians.

Landscape the Victorians and upgrade both hotel and Victorians. Remember to stage them as well.

Go ahead and landscape the hotel and paint all of your buildings. By this time the chalets should be coming up for sale.

Buy the two chalets, demolish, and build 2 ranches.

Stage, landscape, paint, and start upgrading the ranches.

When the Victorian you sold comes back on the market buy it, then landscape, paint, and upgrade to 3 stars.

Let the money accumulate for a while, then start offering double for the wooded lots. Buy 2 of them at first and build ranches.

Upgrade the ranches to 3 stars, then buy a third lot, harvest, and build another ranch.

At this point you will have all of the buildings, the hotel on the premium lot, 4 Victorians (landscaped), and 6 ranches (3 stars).

Let the money accumulate until you can offer double for the Victorian on the premium lot. Buy it, demolish, and build a hotel.

You will need a lot of manpower on this level (24 or more workers), a sawmill, a workshop, and a real estate office.

The picnic parks are also key, as each one is worth +20 appeal. In the end you will own nothing but three picnic parks and 12 tree lots.

You begin with four houses, a Victorian, two cabins, and a lodge.

Sell the Victorian.

Demolish the 2 cabins.

Build a sawmill.

After the sawmill is built, buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop. Demolish the lodge at the same time.

Buy 3 more men and efficiency.

Build and sell a ranch.

Buy any cheap houses (cabins, lodges) that come on the market.

Start building hotels. Start with two, and upgrade as you can.

Once you have two 3-star hotels bringing in the money, continue to buy cheap houses. Keep one cabin and demolish the rest.

Build a real estate office.

Continue to buy men and materials, and build 4 more hotels and upgrade to 3 stars.

Also stage the hotels to bring in more money.

Sell, buy back, and sell again the one cabin until you have hit the 5 house sale requirements. Use the force buy (offer double) to keep buying it back and then sell. The last time you buy it back (when you hit the requirements), demolish.

Also continue to buy houses as you can afford them. Once you have 6 3 star hotels bringing in the money, when you buy the other houses just inspect the more expensive ones. Demolish 3 cheap houses and build picnic parks on the lots.

If necessary, use the force buy (offer double) to buy the last house available.

Once you have all of the lots, keep buying materials until you hit 25,000.

Demolish the real estate office and sawmill and the cheaper houses (not hotels) and reforest the lots.

Demolish the hotels and reforest the land as soon as it is clear.

When you are left with 3 picnic parks and 11 wooded lots, demolish the workshop and reforest the lot.

The trick here is the appraisals. Every time you upgrade a building in some way, the appraisal changes, so once you build a house, appraise it before you start upgrading, then appraise it again when you are done. You will quickly get the 12 appraisals.

You can also use the reforest, harvest, reforest trick on two lots until you hit the 12 reforest requirements.

In the course of the game you will demolish 12 houses, so no worries there.

You start with 2 cabins, a lodge, and a chalet.

Sell the chalet and demolish the 2 cabins.

Build a sawmill and demolish the lodge.

Build another chalet and sell it.

Buy any lodges or cabins that come up for sale.

Buy 2,500 materials and build a workshop.

Buy efficiency, demolish any lodges or cabins, and build and sell a ranch.

Buy and demolish the last of the lodges and cabins. Buy 3 men. Build and sell a Victorian.

I meant I am stuck on level 22. I m not sure what I am doing wrong. You have to build 5 victorians, which is feasable put up two lighthouses which I usually accomplish. But you need 250 happiness level.. I can never get that please help!

I've gone through this page about 4 times and I can't find help for level 28. I've attempted this level so many times and can't get past it in just 10 minutes. It feel impossible! Can you please help me?

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